"Being now fully satisfied as to the complete recovery of the Dean, I gave myself no further concern about watching him; but at once, after he had, in his quiet way, asked me if I was not very tired, I buried myself up in the heap of eider-down close beside him, and was soon as deeply buried in a sound sleep."
The Captain, evidently thinking that he had gone far enough for one day, now broke off suddenly. The children had listened to the recital more eagerly than on any previous occasion,--so much so, indeed, that they had wholly disregarded the storm; and little Alice was so absorbed in learning the fate of the poor shipwrecked Dean, that her fears about the thunder and lightning had been quite forgotten. When the Captain paused, the storm had passed over, the sun had burst through the scattering clouds, and in the last lingering drops his silver rays were melted into gorgeous hues; for
"A rainbow--thrown brightly Across the dark sky-- (Soft curving, proud arching In beauty on high)
"Had circled the even,-- A bridal ring, given To wed earth with heaven, As it smiled 'neath the veil of the glittering rain."
The little birds had come out of their hiding-places, and were merrily singing,
"Farewell to the rain, the beautiful rain";
and the party of little folks that had been hidden away in the "Mariner's Rest," following their example, were soon gayly hastening across the fresh fields,--the old man carrying laughing Alice in his arms, to keep her tender feet from the wet grass.
In which the Mariner's Rest and the Ancient Mariner himself receive particular Attention.
The next day being Sunday, the Captain's little friends did not go down to see him, and the day after being stormy, they could not. So, when Tuesday came, they were all the more eager for the visit that it had been delayed; and accordingly they hurried off at a very early hour. Indeed, the old man was only too glad to have them come down at any time, for he had during these past few days become so used to their being with him, and he had taken such a fancy to them, that he felt himself quite lost and lonely when a day passed by without seeing them. He was, as we have already seen, rather afraid they might disturb him if he said, "Come at any hour you please," instead of "Come at four o'clock, or three, or two o'clock," as the case might be; but he had discovered them to be such well-behaved and gentle children, that he made up his mind they could never trouble or annoy him. So when last they parted, he said to them, "Come in the morning, if you like, and play all day about the grounds, and if I have work to do you must not mind. Nobody will disturb you";--and, in truth, there was nobody there to disturb them, for besides the old man and his boy, Main Brace, there was no living thing about the house, if we except two fine old Newfoundland dogs which the Captain had brought home with him from his last voyage, and which he called "Port" and "Starboard." He had also a flock of handsome chickens, and some foreign ducks. "And now," said he, "when you have seen all these, and Main Brace, and me, you have seen my family, for this is all the family that I have, unless I count the pretty little birds that hop and skip and sing among the trees."